Common reed – tagrør

It’s time right now here in DK at least to harvest the “feathers” from Phragmites australis.I haven’t used it before and only have time for this one experiment. Some say it can be frozen, others that the dye can be frozen, but nobody seems to be very sure.

The old recipes say to divide your fiber in 2 batches, dyeing one after the other and then dunking half of each portion in iron for 15 minutes (needs to be a warm bath it seems). Several have said that the 2nd bath doesn’t really give much though. One could perhaps dye the first portion for a shorter time? Dye ratio at least 3:1 I’d say for just the one bath.

Anyways, a lovely green. I dyed some birch skeins real quick and did one overdye, which is almost electric to look at.

Some people get a neon green, or like a granny smith apple. Could be the water, could be that I use CoT and they only use alum? If I run into another batch I may try. I also put a small bunch in the freezer for testing if they keep.

Here on my blog, I share a behind the scenes glimpse into my life and creative process, including new paintings, weaving, dyeing, scenes from the studio, art and books that inspire me, and my current obsessions.

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